Pete Dougherty, TV/Radio

Published 9:40 pm, Thursday, February 28, 2013

St. John's University head coach Fran Fraschilla blows his whistle during team drills at the United Center Thursday, March 12, 1998, in Chicago. St. John's is preparing to face Detroit in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Chicago Friday, March 13, 1998. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell)

St. John's University head coach Fran Fraschilla blows his whistle...

FILE--St. John's Coach Fran Fraschilla directs his team during the second half of their game against Boston College in the Big East tournament March 5, 1998, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Fraschilla, who led St. John's back to the NCAA tournament this season after a four-year absence, no longer is the coach at the school, The Associated Press has learned. Sources close to the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Fraschilla was out, but that negotiations were going on today as to whether he was fired or resigned. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

FILE--St. John's Coach Fran Fraschilla directs his team during the...

FILE -- New Mexico head basketball coach Fran Fraschilla has a few words for his team during a timeout during second half of the game in Las Vegas, Nev. March 9, 2000. Freshman center R.T. Guinn has quit the New Mexico basketball team in a dispute with coach Fran Fraschilla, accusing the first-year coach of threatening to blackball him if he left. Fraschilla said Wednesday March 29, 2000 the departure of Guinn had to do with the player's conduct off the court. (AP Photo/Albuquerque Journal/Jim Thompson)

FILE -- New Mexico head basketball coach Fran Fraschilla has a few...

FILE -- Fran Fraschilla is surrounded by microphones as he answers questions during a news conference in New York, Monday, April 8, 1996, where he was introduced as the new coach of the St. John's men's basketball team. It doesn't take much investigative work to see the similarities in the basketball programs at St. John's and Seton Hall. Both are charter members of the Big East, which brought the league Final Four appearances during its power run of the 1980s. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

It was the final minute of a tight basketball game a couple of weeks ago on ESPN. Analyst Fran Fraschilla addressed how each team would approach the rest of the game, which he dissected perfectly.

"You must have been a coach once upon a time," said his play-by-play partner, Brent Musburger.

"Not good enough," Fraschilla responded, "or I wouldn't be here with you."

Fraschilla, 54, was a familiar figure to basketball fans who attended games in downtown Albany in the mid-'90s. He coached Manhattan against Siena and in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament for four seasons, winning the league's Coach of the Year honor in 1995. Fraschilla also led St. John's and New Mexico, taking his teams to the postseason in nine of his 10 seasons as a head coach.

He hasn't roamed courtside since 2002, but he is still a familiar voice to basketball junkies. Fraschilla has elevated himself to one of ESPN's top basketball analysts.

As he prepared for his next assignment, the Texas at Oklahoma State game at 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN, he took a few minutes to discuss his transition to broadcasting.

Q: Not every coach goes into TV and does a great job. What has the transition been like for you?

A: Well, it was natural for me. From my Manhattan and St. John's days, I got a chance in New York City to do a lot of media work — interviews, television appearances, all the things you might not get a chance to do in many other places. Certainly not in Bowling Green, Ohio, or Missoula, Montana. The ability to translate my basketball thoughts and sound bites to a television camera seemed to come very naturally to me.

I love basketball, I love talking basketball, and coming from Brooklyn, I always had — luckily — the gift of gab. It's a matter now of explaining the game simply without people thinking you're a know-it-all. To me, explaining the game on television is just like when I was coaching my team. If a player or a viewer doesn't understand what you're talking about, then you're not doing your job well.

It came naturally. I enjoy explaining the game of basketball simply, and I also enjoy telling viewers about players and coaches, and what they are like behind the scenes, their connection to other players, other coaches, the history of the game. It all comes naturally to me. I'm a life-long basketball junkie.

Q: How much schooling does ESPN give you as far as the finer points of broadcasting?

A: Very little. You sink or swim almost on your own, although before I started this, before ESPN gave me the chance back in 2002, I called every single person that I knew who was connected to broadcasting, from both a play-by-play point of view to an analyst's point of view. I tried to get as much information as I could. I just felt that I wanted to be good at it.

At the time, I thought it might be a fun two or three years before I went back to coaching. I've had many opportunities, as you probably know, and at that time my boys were little. I got into a groove with ESPN, and I just wanted to watch my kids grow up. ESPN has afforded me that opportunity. I have a son (Jason) who plays on the team at Oklahoma, a walk-on sophomore, and my youngest guy, Matt, is committed to play at Harvard next year for Tommy Amaker. I wouldn't trade. ESPN has given me a great lifestyle. It allowed me to watch my boys grow up. It allowed me to stay very, very close to the game."

Q: Have you done many OU games?

A: Yeah, I have. Actually, it's fun, because I almost never mention my son's name. I've found that because of my credibility within the Big 12, the coaches of various schools know that it's not going to change what I'm going to say on the air. I worked for Rick Barnes, who is now the coach at Texas, when I was at Providence. Virtually every coach in the league, at least most of them, I consider good friends. I have a very easy time saying what's on my mind and sometimes having to be constructively critical, regardless of who the team is. I don't ever want to lose that credibility.

The other night, when I ranted about a foul needing to be called at the end of the Iowa State game, (Kansas coach) Bill Self is one of my good friends in coaching. It didn't matter to me. I felt the referee should have made a call. I try to handle that aspect of being an analyst. There's an artful way of being critical of a team or a coach without it looking like you have any kind of agenda. That's been part of my credibility. I will call it the way I see it, regardless of who it is."

Q: Are you still doing some studio work?

A: I am. Not as much in the studio. They changed the philosophy up there. Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams are in the studio more. It's good in a way. We don't have to travel as much across the country. I like studio work, but I much more enjoy being at games. I enjoy being at half-court in an environment like Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas)."

Q: Is it a different platform as far as trying to explain the game?

A: Studio is where you get face time. People see you. There's probably a little more visibility when you're in the studio. My opinions aren't going to change because I'm in the studio as opposed to being at a game. I enjoy both. I also enjoy the immediacy of being at a game. I feel I can coach both teams at a game and probably have more to say because you're literally on for two hours.

Q: It has been 10 or 11 years since you've been coach. Is the urge gone to go back, or is it still in the back of your mind?

A: You know what, let's put it this way, I don't need to coach. Some of my coaching buddies need to coach. I don't need to coach. I'm active in basketball 365 days a year.

As soon as the college season ends, I go right away to start preparing for the NBA draft, where I've got to know all the international kids. It's become a great hobby of mine. I get to travel to Europe frequently. I coach for much of the summer at the various Nike skills academies, where I'm involved with some of the best high school coaches in the country. From a standpoint of coaching, I'm never away from it.

I've spent a lot of time coaching my kids the last couple of summers, and it's been a great benefit to me. The point is, unless the perfect situation came up, I was not going to leave ESPN to go back to coaching until my boys were finished playing high school. Now, it would have to take a great opportunity. I'm in a great spot at ESPN. I haven't coached in 10 years, but I feel like I coach every day of the year. I'm very close to the game, very close to all my coaching buddies, recruiting, video tapes. I make coaching instructional videos. I speak at seven, eight, nine high school coaching clinics a fall, all over the country. I've never left coaching. I just get a different platform for my coaching Jones now."

Q: In a lot of ways, maybe not the amount of travel, but the distances you travel have increased. They use you a lot on the international front, don't they?

A: They do. I enjoy that. That's a big aspect of my job. I've gotten to know the international game extremely well, from the international kids who are ready for the NBA draft to Olympics stuff. I did the Olympic exhibition tour this summer. Various international events that we cover, I'm usually right in the thick of it. It's one of my hobbies. I had international kids at Manhattan, St. John's. I've been to 10 or 11 countries now and done clinics all over Europe. All these things ... the point is, I'm immersed in basketball 365 days a year. ESPN uses me November to April essentially, and then the NBA draft and some other stuff.

Sound bytes

1 Welcome to the ACC, Syracuse. ESPN has announced eight Atlantic Coast Conference prime-time college football telecasts for the fall, and newcomer SU is not on the schedule. It is the Orange's basketball history that the conference undoubtedly sought when inviting the school to join.

2 NBC and Golf Channel again will flex their corporate synergy with overlapping coverage Saturday and Sunday of the PGA Tour's Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Golf Channel will focus on "The Bear Trap," holes 15-17 on the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA National Champion Course, in the 3-5 p.m. window each day while NBC provides traditional coverage.

3 Among the casualties of the WTEN/WXXA merger is "Fast Track," Fox-23's ode to the area's auto racing fans. The show, which began in 1998, served a large but underappreciated audience and included both local and national coverage.